Suburban firefighter charged with possession of child porn

CHICAGO (STMW) - A west suburban firefighter is behind bars Thursday after a computer containing images of child pornography led back to his home in Downers Grove, according to prosecutors.

Peter Woitovich, 25, was ordered held on a $300,000 bond after being charged with five counts of possession of child pornography, according to the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office. He worked as a contract firefighter/paramedic, including a stint with the Naperville Fire Department.

Late last year, as part of an ongoing investigation into possession and dissemination of child pornography, members of the DuPage County Sheriff’s Sexual Predator Electronic Exploitation Division (S.P.E.E.D) found a computer containing images of child pornography, a statement from prosecutors said.

An investigation led to Woitovich, and a search warrant was conducted Thursday morning at his home in the 5700 block of South Walnut Avenue, prosecutors said. The search turned up “images of child pornography in Woitovich’s possession,” and he was taken into custody without incident.

“Year after year, hundreds of thousands of images are downloaded and shared over the internet with each image representing yet another innocent, young victim of child pornography,” state’s attorney Robert Berlin said in the statement. “To protect these innocent victims, my office stands ready to vigorously prosecute any allegations of child pornography.”

Woitovich is next scheduled to appear in court Feb. 22 in Wheaton before Judge George Bakalis. As a condition of bond, he is to have no contact with children under 18, no computer and no Internet access.